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This homemade Sausage Gravy is made from scratch and starts with ground pork and seasonings. The flavorful breakfast sausage is then turned into a delicious creamy gravy. This flavorful white gravy is the best comfort food when smothered over homemade buttermilk biscuits!
This recipe has been viewed well over 2 million times. You can see from the 100+ comments why so many people say it is the best sausage gravy recipe they’ve ever made!
Table of Contents
- Why I love this recipe
- Ingredients needed
- How to make sausage gravy
- Step 1: Prepare the sausage
- Step 2: Cook the breakfast sausage
- Step 3: Add butter to the sausage
- Step 4: Add flour
- Step 5: Add milk to create gravy
- Recipe variations and substitutions
- Storage and reheating
- Recipe Tips for the best results
- Serving suggestions
- Other great biscuits and gravy recipes
- Country Sausage Gravy (Biscuits and Gravy) Recipe
Why I love this recipe
- Restaurant quality – only better! Not all sausage gravy is the same. I have frequently ordered biscuits and gravy at restaurants only to be disappointed.
- Quick and easy to make. Only a few basic ingredients are needed to make this homemade sausage gravy recipe.
- Made with homemade breakfast sausage. You can certainly pick up some pre-made sausage from the butcher shop or grocery store, but it is so easy to make with ground pork mixed with just the right seasonings.
Ingredients needed
The exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a quick summary.
- breakfast sausage
- butter
- all purpose flour
- whole milk
How to make sausage gravy
Step 1: Prepare the sausage
If you are making your own homemade breakfast sausage, you’ll need to mix together the ingredients. Combine the ground pork with sage, salt, brown sugar, black pepper, red pepper flakes, marjoram, and cloves.
Step 2: Cook the breakfast sausage
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage. Break up any large pieces and continue cooking until the sausage is sufficiently browned.
Step 3: Add butter to the sausage
When I make my homemade breakfast sausage, there is never a significant amount of residual sausage grease or rendered fat, so I add butter. If you have excess grease, you can skip this step.
Step 4: Add flour
Sprinkle about four tablespoons of flour over the cooked sausage, give it a stir and let the flour cook for a few minutes. This will allow the flour to absorb some of the fat and turn golden brown to create a wonderful roux to thicken the white sausage gravy.
Step 5: Add milk to create gravy
Pour the milk over the sausage mixture and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat, and continue stirring with a flat-bottomed wooden spoon over medium heat until the gravy thickens.
Recipe variations and substitutions
- For a little kick, make this recipe with spicy pork sausage. To make spicy sausage, you can increase the red pepper flakes, or add some cayenne pepper.
- Use fresh herbs instead of dried ones. If using fresh, be sure to mince them very small and double the amount of dried ground spices you would use. Breakfast sausage tastes especially amazing with fresh sage.
- Spicy or mild Italian sausage will work in place of the breakfast sausage. It will create a different flavor from traditional country sausage gravy though.
- Turkey sausage can be used in place of pork.
- Leftover or stored bacon grease can be used in place of the butter.
- Do not substitute the butter with margarine.
- I highly recommend using whole milk for a richer flavor, however skim milk or lowfat milk can be used. I do not recommend using heavy cream.
Storage and reheating
- Doubtful you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, the sausage gravy can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The gravy should be consumed within 3-5 days.
- I recommend reheating leftover Southern sausage gravy in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Any kind of cream sauce or gravy should always be reheated low and slow.
- If you want to make this gravy ahead of time, you can just reheat it when you are ready to serve. This works great if you’re planning on making a classic Southern breakfast for a special occasion. Pro tip: for best results, let the gravy come to room temperature before reheating.
- Leftover sausage gravy can also be frozen. To freeze, store leftover gravy in a freezer bag and squeeze all the air out before placing it in the freezer. Allow the gravy to thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating.
Recipe Tips for the best results
- You can buy seasoned breakfast sausage in bulk without any casing from most meat departments, however, I prefer to start with plain ground pork and make my own sage breakfast sausage. You can also use sausage links and remove them from the casings.
- Make sure to use a good pan that will brown the meat nicely. I always cook my sausage gravy in my favorite Staub dutch oven.
- Keep it warm: You’ll want to serve the gravy hot. Because it’s a milk-based gravy with a fair amount of fat, it will get thicker as it cools. To keep it warm, just keep it hot over low heat on the stove until ready to serve. If it still seems too thick, the best way to thin the gravy is to stir in a splash of milk.
Serving suggestions
- Make homemade biscuits and gravy. The best biscuits are my homemade buttermilk biscuits, however, you can use a mix (like Bisquick) to make drop biscuits. You can even buy the kind that comes in a tube.
- Serve this sausage gravy over eggs. It’s especially good over scrambled eggs.
- Top a breakfast casserole with sausage gravy. My family loves my biscuit and gravy casserole, but you can add the warm gravy to any kind of breakfast casserole.
- Serve over potatoes. Whether you make some easy breakfast potatoes, hash browns, or french fries, smother those potatoes with some gravy.
Other great biscuits and gravy recipes
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Pin ItCountry Sausage Gravy (Biscuits and Gravy)
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork breakfast sausage I highly recommend you make your own, recipe link in notes below
- 3 tablespoons butter *may not use all of this if sausage is greasy
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, cook the bulk sausage until brown and crumbly.
- When the sausage is done, add the butter if there is little to no residual butter in the pan. If there is excess oil for the sausage, you may not need to add butter. Ideally, you want about 3 tablespoons of fat, either from the sausage or from the melted butter.
- Sprinkle sausage with flour, stir, and allow to cook for several minutes until the flour can absorb some of the fat and get golden brown.
- Add the milk and stir. Continue stirring occasionally over medium heat until gravy thickens, 5-10 minutes.
Notes
- Sausage: You can buy in bulk from the meat counter at the grocery store, you can buy links and remove them from the casing, or you can make your own homemade breakfast sausage from ground pork and seasonings.
- Keep it warm: You’ll want to serve the gravy hot. Because it’s a cream based gravy with a fair amount of fat, it will get thicker as it cools. To keep warm, just heat over low heat on the stove until ready to serve.
- To store: Keep the extra gravy in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Should keep for 3-5 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally created in March 2015 and has been updated for your reading pleasure.
I am a snob about sausage gravy too. I can’t wait to make it!
I actually take my sausage out, add some butter or even some olive oil to help a tiny bit with some healthiness (?), and add my flour to the oil. I will cook the roux until it is a dark brick color, before I add the milk and then the sausage back to the skillet. The gravy is darker, but the depth of flavor is delicious? This has been the passed down way of making gravy several generations in my family, except no measuring (instead just eyeballing ingredients until it “looks right”), and almost always in a cast iron skillet! ?
Thank you! Your comment contained the information I needed! My mom’s gravy was dark, with well-developed flavor. And delicious! I’ve not found any restaurant gravy that compares. I’ve finally decided that if the gravy is pale, it will be pasty. Can’t wait to try making this for my family on Thanksgiving morning!
I agree with Sarah. I take my sausage out…brown the flour and oil. Then add milk mix and add meat back in…nice browner color!
The brick roux will add tons of flavor but will not have any thickening power so i guess you’d have to use less milk.
Can this be made with whole wheat flour.
I’ve never tried, but I don’t see why not. -Krissy
Can you sub milk for water or something else
Not sure. This is how I’ve always made it. -Krissy
Probably chicken stock would be a good substitute or any stock of your choosing.
I’ve always had a milk based gravy with my biscuits… I think stock would be quite different. Krissy
Then , it wouldn’t be a white sauce .
I use powdered milk and water
Can you make this the night before?
I never have, but I’m sure you can if you reheat it slowly. -Krissy
Some people say scorch the flour.i think that’s crazy .as a tip if you have issues getting your gravy to set up or flour sticking to sausage and gravy tasting to floury.slowly mix your flour into the milk and mix well then add all at once and stir .this will make your gravy set up quicker as well
An excellent way to thicken any milk and flour gravy is to put a cup of milk and a 1/4 cup or so of flour in a mason jar or any jar with a good lid and shake for 30 seconds or so till flour is mixed thoroughly with the milk. Then just add some to the simmering gravy, stir and let thicken. Add more if not thick enough.
Some people just prefer a darker tan/brown gravy. The longer you cook/brown the flour the more you get this. It is personal preference.
Pretty close to what I make. I now use Coffee Creamer instead of fresh milk. Noone could taste any difference. Yours looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing I do that. Mix in a glass with a fork. As I was taught that way. NY gravy has always been my specialty.
I use almond milk in everything and I’m going to try it in my sausage gravy.
I use almond milk and its absolutely delicious!
Do you have a recipe for your pork sausage?
https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/sage-breakfast-sausage/
This is how I make sausage and biscuits with milk gravy, just like my Tennessee Momma taught me. Thank you for the memories.
You are most welcome, Paulette! -Krissy
This is exactly how I make sausage gravy and it turns out perfect every time!
I make it the same way, except I use 1.5 cups milk an 1.5 cups cream. Delish!!
You’re my kinda gal! Great suggestion! Krissy
Is heavy cream ok?
I’ve never made it with heavy cream, but I think it would be super tasty! I just worry that it would be too thick.
This looks so good! Any idea if this could be frozen and used at a later date if made in bulk?
Hi Carley, I think that if you were sure to get all the air out to avoid freezer burn, you could most certainly do that! -Krissy
Oh my gosh !!! I’ve been making my gravy like this for many years now but, I NEVER knew you could freeze it !!!! That is GREAT NEWS to me !!!!!!!! Now that the kids have grown and gone, I still ge bet hungry for biscuits and gravy but, it just makes too much for one person, and I stopped fixing it because I don’t like to waste food. What a wonderful surprise this was to find out you can freeze it !!! Thank you, thank you, thank you !!!
Hi. I wanted to say that I have frozen many meals that have milk in them. (For example, we made potato soup the other day.)
I am definitely making this biscuits n gravy recipe. Looks perfect!
There won’t be any left, you’ll even be licking the frying pan before you wash it.
Okay, I have been making sausage gravy and biscuits for a long time and couldn’t figure out how to get the slight chalky taste out of it and the thickness was never right (I’ve tried probably 100+ recipes). Just made yours for dinner and it was perfect. Thank you.
From One Tom In Florida To another Tom I use 6 Swagggerty Sausage Patties and 3/4 of a stick of butter with red hot cracked pepper and regular black pepper to saute the sausage then mix in a 2 cup measuring cup 2 cups of milk with 3 table spoons of corn starch pour that in your pan 1 cup at a time and allow to come up to a quick boll and stir constantly and you will see in thicken
This is a Very easy way to make and flavor of gravy
GOD EAT TO YOU
I found to not get that chalky taste on anything that needs thickening, i dont use corn starch, i use tapioca
Yes you can freeze it. I do it with no problems.
We do this all the time we freeze in the size containers that works for us then after it is froze solid we put it in bags and vacuum seal them then we put it in the micro wave and it ready to eat. We do this with soup also.
A froze country style gravy before and it turned out just the same as you just made it